This week stocks were up and down over the crisis in Europe, particularly Italy. Right before its collapse, MF Global dumped European debt at a loss, which unfortunately didn’t help. In other news, after a high IPO, Groupon is being shorted, naturally, and we find out that Goldman had a good chunk of change in “funded” credit exposure to Italy. Read on for more…

Stock markets gain after Italy austerity vote November 11, 2011BBC Shares in the US and Europe rose, while the cost of borrowing facing Italy retreated, having reached a record earlier in the week. The Italian senate’s vote begins a process that should see Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi quit.

MF Global Lays Off Vast Majority of Broker-Dealer Employees November 11, 2011 By Michael J. De La Merced and Ben ProtessDEALBOOK The court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Globals broker-dealer unit laid off 1,066 employees on Friday, keeping only a skeleton staff to assist in the dissolution of the business.

Europes Banks Found Safety of Bonds a Costly Illusion November 10, 2011 By Liz Alderman and Susanne CraigNew York Times PARIS As the bets that European banks made on United States mortgage investments went bust a few years ago, bankers piled into what they saw as a safe refuge: bonds issued by countries in Europes seemingly ironclad monetary union.

Vivendi in $1.9 Billion EMI Deal November 11, 2011 By Eric PfannerDEALBOOK Vivendi, the French media and telecommunications company, has agreed to acquire the recorded music division of the EMI Group for 1.2 billion pounds, or about $1.9 billion.

Geithner urges Asia-Pacific economies to spur growth November 10, 2011BBC US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has urged Asia-Pacific countries to increase efforts to restore growth to the global economy. He was addressing finance ministers from the 21 countries that are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) group.

Italian Banks Trapped by Sovereign Crisis November 11, 2011 By John Glover and Elisa MartinuzziBloomberg Italys highest bond yields since the birth of the euro are reverberating through the financial system of Europes biggest debt issuer, driving lenders to seek record amounts of central bank financing.

Insurer Allianz Net Drops to $350 Million November 11, 2011Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) German insurer Allianz SE saw third quarter profits sag to euro258 million ($350 million) from euro1.27 billion ($1.73 billion) the year before because of investment losses and Greek bond writedowns from Europe’s debt crisis.

Groupon hit by wave of short selling November 10, 2011 By Telis Demos in New YorkFinancial Times Short sellers have targeted Groupon in the days after its initial public offering, as they did social network LinkedIn after its debut earlier this year.

MF Dumped European Debt at Loss Before Bankruptcy November 9, 2011 By Aaron LucchettiWall Street Journal MF Global Holdings Ltd. sold about $1.5 billion of its European sovereign-debt holdings just before the securities firm filed for bankruptcy Oct. 31, according to a person familiar with the matter.